Qrow's Little Secret
by JayRayGee
Summary: Qrow has been hiding a secret for many years now, telling only those who he can really trust. But when he is injured during a fight, he falls unconscious. While unconscious, that secret that he has kept begins to reveal itself, whether he's aware or it or not.
1. Chapter 1: Team STRQ

**A/N:**

" **Wait a minute, this isn't Betrayal of a Rose?" you ask yourself after seeing that I posted something. "That's correct" I say to you, the loyal viewer. This is a new story that I'm starting called Qrow's Little Secret. "But I want the final chapter to BoaR" you say, demandingly. "Well, too bad" I say "You're going to have to wait a bit longer."**

 **I want to start having more than one on going story at a time so I have more to work on and you have more to read. This is one of those three stories I mentioned in the A/N of Chapter 10 of BoaR. Since then, I have gotten permission from a friend to act upon their idea for another fanfic. So now I have 2 active fanfics and 3 in waiting, all of which, are dark. You probably won't see a smut or love story on here. Anyways, let's talk about the story.**

 **This story takes place during Volume 4. So, everything that has happened in Volume 4 as of episode 9 has happened in the story, as well as what else happens in between now and the end of the volume. The story is mainly going to be Qrow with some Ruby and other character thrown in there. Now, let's begin.**

 **Began Writing: January 16, 2017 at 9:40 P.M.**

Coughing. That's the sound Ruby woke up to. The previous night, Qrow, Ruby's uncle who had been following her and the rest of Team RNJR, consisting of Ruby, Nora, Jaune, and Ren, had told them everything about Salem, the relics, his semblance being misfortune. He had told them everything.

Now, as he is leaned up against a tree, he is coughing his lungs out. Ruby runs over to him and sees that his wounds, which he got while fighting Tyrian, has turned a blue shade of blue. Qrow is continuing to cough harder and harder until he finally stops and looks at his hand which he has been coughing into. It's the same shade of blue and the wound. Ruby gasps in both realization and fear.

"Well, that's unfortunate." Qrow says before slumping over and passing out.

 _Flashback, 25 years ago_

"Qrow Branwen, Taiyang Xiao Long, Raven Branwen, and Summer Rose. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team STRQ. Lead by, Summer Rose." Clapping arouse from the audience as a young Ozpin finished talking.

Qrow looked down towards Summer, who was a bit caught off-guard by the announcement, that she would lead a team at Beacon. Qrow then looked at Raven, his hot-headed twin sister, who looked angry that she wasn't chosen as the team leader. Qrow finally looked over at Taiyang, who just seemed happy to be a part of the team. Once the four of them had left the auditorium, Raven was the first to speak up.

"I can't believe that SHE got chosen as team leader! I am obviously the best fighter among all of us!" Raven said, angrily.

"If by fighter you mean punch everything till it doesn't exist, then yes, you are the best fighter." Qrow snapped back.

"Qrow, if you say another word, I'll..." Raven said, through her teeth.

"You'll do what? Fight me? We all know that I would kick your ass in a fight. You may be good at punching, but what about blocking and taking the time to choose where you strike." Qrow was now face-to-face with Raven, both having their hands on their weapons.

"GUYS!" Taiyang yelled at them.

"What?!" Qrow and Raven snapped back.

"We have been a team for all of five minutes. I would really like to graduate with you three so maybe we should learn to get along a bit better. Plus, you're scaring Summer." Taiyang snapped back. Summer had her hood over her entire head and was crouching.

"Ah, fuck. I'm sorry Summer." Qrow said, trying to calm her.

"I'm not." Raven said before storming off.

"Raven, wait up!" Taiyang called out to her.

"Summer, she's gone." Qrow said to Summer once she was out of earshot. "I'm sorry you had to see that. Me and my sister have always had a rocky relationship. We'll try to not do that as much, but I can't control her." Qrow was trying to calm her down.

"She hates me." Summer said.

"What?" Qrow asked.

Summer looked up and it was clear she had been crying. "Raven hates me. She hates the fact that I'm leader and she's not."

"Summer, don't say things like that. Raven doesn't hate you." Qrow said, trying to get her to stop.

"But she does!" Summer was yelled through the tears.

"Raven has an interesting way to deal with things she doesn't like. She hates everything that doesn't go her way. Once she sees how good of a fighter you are, she'll be more… open-minded." Qrow said.

"You really think that?" Summer said, wiping away the tears.

"Summer, I know that. I've lived with her for 18 years. Now come on, we must get out dorm organized. Remember, we are not only a team, but we all live together now." Qrow said with a smile before helping her up. The two walked together to their dorm room, where they found Raven and Taiyang already unpacking.

 _Flash-forward 5 years_

"Wow! This sight is beautiful!" Summer said in excitement. Qrow had taken her up to one of the main cliff overlooking the ocean near the City of Vale. The brightly lit partially destroyed moon reflected perfectly on the water.

"Almost as beautiful as you." Qrow said.

"Oh, stop it you!" Summer jokingly punched him. Since their team's formation 5 years ago, team STRQ had been on countless missions, both Search and Destroy to Protection, all around the kingdom of Vale. They had grown together as a family. Qrow no longer say Taiyang as just a team mate, but more of a brother. Raven had grown to like Summer, proving her fighting ability many times over. Raven wasn't one to give complements to people, but she occasionally gave Summer a friendly smile or a pat on the back. Last year they had graduated and had begun their new lives as official defenders of Remnant. They had been on a few missions since then but had decided to focus more on their personal lives. You see, not only had Qrow and Summer grown closer together, but Taiyang and Raven had really grown to like each other. Taiyang had even proposed to Raven right after they had graduated and the two had just gotten married last month. Now, as the moon reflected off the water and Summer looked out, admiring the scenery, Qrow remembered all of this, remembered all the times that not only he had as a team, but all the nice times he and Summer shared.

"Qrow, come here. I want to share this moment to…" Summer looked back to see Qrow on one knee holding something in his hand.

"Summer, ever since that day in the hallway, when I picked you up off the ground, I knew that you were the one that I would love to spend the rest of my life with. The one that I would love to always be by my side when I go out on missions, the one that I would love to always see first when I wake up in the morning. So, I ask you this only once: Will you marry me?"

Summer stood there with her hood pulled across her face, covering her everything except her eyes, who Qrow could see that they were watering. "Oh, my God! Yes! Yes, yes, yes!" Summer ran over to him and kissed him. The kiss lasted what felt like an eternity before they finally broke apart and Qrow slipped the ring inlayed with a blueish-clear piece of dust in the middle. After that they both looked out over the water.

"Summer, see that island way out there? That's where I want you and me and out future kids to grow up on." Qrow said, pointing towards Patch.

"I'll go wherever you go, sweetheart." Summer said before kissing him again.

 _Flash-forward 2 years_

Qrow awoke to no one else in his bed. It wasn't uncommon for Summer not to be already gone awake when Qrow woke up, but usually it was accompanied by the smell of pancake or waffles. But this time, nothing. No Summer, no smells, no anything. The only time this was like this was when Summer was out on a mission.

Qrow and Summer had been together married now for nearly a year. Since Qrow had proposed, Taiyang and Raven had had a kid, a girl they named Yang. She had Tiayang's hair and Raven's eyes. She was about one now and could already walk. Raven at first wasn't too fond of having a kid but slowly grew to like the idea of a mini her running around. Qrow and Summer said they would like to wait a few years before having any kids, but that didn't stop them from having some "fun times" at night.

Qrow walked downstairs and found that everything kitchen was off. Qrow began to think that Summer might have run off on a mission without telling him before he heard something coming from one of the other rooms. Curiously, he followed the sound. He had his hand on his weapon, thinking it might be an intruder. As he approached the living room, he could hear that it was crying coming from one of the corners. Qrow cautiously approached the sound, weapon at the ready until he saw that it was just Summer, sitting in the fetal position, hood covering her entire head, crying. Qrow took his hand off his weapon and began to relax

"Summer, you okay babe?" Qrow asked, trying to see if he could comfort his wife. He received no response from Summer but he did hear her sniffle as she tried to stop crying.

"Summer, what's wrong? You can tell me?" Qrow now seemed a bit more worried. Summer could hear it in his voice. However, she still didn't respond.

"Summer, does your stomach hurt?" Qrow asked. Qrow watched to see if Summer would respond to this question. Slowly, Summer nodded her head twice, signaling yes.

"Summer…" Qrow began to walk over to Summer. Summer heard her husband begin to approach and began to start crying again. Summer began to fear what Qrow might do. They didn't want any kids for a few more years, yet here she was, pregnant.

Qrow crouched down to Summer's height. Summer tensed up as she awaited what would happen next. Then, she felt a hand gently placed on her shoulder, something she wasn't expecting. She was expecting a slap or something worse. Slowly, Summer turned to face Qrow, taking off her hood in the process. Instead of seeing an angry or disappointed Qrow, she saw that smiling face that she had fallen in love with.

"Hey, cheer up, babe. It's going to be okay."

 _Flash-forward to present time_

Ruby and Jaune were carrying Qrow as Ren and Nora walked alongside them, watching for Grimm.

"Summer…. Summer…" Qrow said hoarsely in his sleep.

"Ruby, why does Qrow keep mentioning Summer? Is that like, his favorite time of the year?" Nora asked.

"Uh, yeah. He loves summer. He loves it when it's sunny and bright and everything is alive." Ruby said, trying to hide the tears, poorly.

"Ruby, why are you crying?" Ren asked.

"I don't want to lose him that's all. He's almost been as much as a father figure to me as my real father, Taiyang. I've already lost so many people, I don't want to lose another." Ruby said

"I see. Well, when we get to the next town, we'll find a doctor and we'll get him healed, okay?" Ren said

"Okay." Ruby said. They walked on as Qrow began muttering a new name.

"Summer… Summer… Ruby."

 **Author's Note:**

 **Remember when I said that there would be no love stories? Well, I lied. This isn't a dark fanfic as much as it is a love story. So, I guess that it's a bit of both. The story will have a lot more of the flash backs and flash forwards as the story progresses.**

 **So, if you like the new story, follow and fav both it and me. There is way more to come from this one. Reviews are welcome, I read all of them. And I'm going to do a little shameful self-promotion real fast for my YouTube, I'm sorry.**

 **I post mainly RWBY AMV's with a few CoD videos, actually, switch those two around. I mainly post CoD videos with a few RWBY AMV's but I'm trying to post more AMV's because I just got Sony Vegas. So yeah, my name on YouTube is the same as it is on here, JayRayGee. Self-promotion over.**

 **Finished Writing: January 17, 2017 at 12:21 A.M.**

 **Words: 2.1k**

 **Pages: 5**


	2. Chapter 2: The Name Game

**A/N:**

 **Before I write my new story, I thought I should update this story first. You seem to like it so I keep on writing it. I don't know how long it will be so I guess that is a good thing. Also, I'm writing this chapter from my college's Student Government Room.**

 **But as you can already guess from the first chapter, this is a story about Qrow being Ruby's dad, not Taiyang. I actually had to be told that Qrow wasn't Ruby's father. I believed it that much. The similarities are just too much. Also in this chapter, I'm going to use something that is only just a theory right now. I'm going to use the theory that Raven brings good luck so just go along with it, it will make sense soon.**

 **EDIT: Just googled it and ravens aren't good luck. They are bad luck. But for the sake of this fanfiction, let's pretend they are.**

 **Let's begin.**

 **Started Writing: January 25, 2017 at 11:44 A.M.**

"Taiyang…Raven…" Qrow mumbled in his sleep.

"He's getting worse, he might not make it." Jaune said.

"No, he has to make it." Ruby said. "I can't lose someone else."

"We'll try to save him but there is a chance he won't make it." Ren said.

"No, I won't let that happen." Ruby said, now starting to cry.

"Okay, we won't let him die." Jaune said as they continued to walk.

"Taiyang…Raven…Summer…" Qrow mumbled.

 _Flashback 17 years ago_

"Taiyang, is Raven home from her mission?" Qrow asked over the phone.

"Yeah, she got back yesterday. Why?" Taiyang asked.

"Can you two come over, we have a surprise." Qrow said.

"Okay, we'll be over soon." Taiyang said, happily before hanging up.

"Who was that?" Summer asked.

"Taiyang and Raven, they are going to come over soon. And we are going to tell them about the baby."

"Now?" Summer asked.

"Yes, now. When else where you planning on telling them?" Qrow asked.

"I don't know. When the baby came out?" Summer said, questionably.

"Summer, come on, it will be fine. What's the worst that can happen?" Qrow said.

"What if Raven doesn't like it, or she…" Summer was interrupted by a kiss planted on her lips. She quickly molded into it as she felt all her worries wash away.

Qrow finally pulled away and said, "There is nothing to worry about. I know Raven and I know you'll be fine. Okay?"

"Okay." Summer said.

About 20 minutes later there was a knock on the door. Qrow answered it and was met by Taiyang and Raven. Raven held the hand of their little girl. She excitedly ran up to Qrow and gave him as big of a hug as she could manage. The three were welcomed inside and told to sit down. Once seated, Qrow began talking.

"So, how's life with a little girl running around?" Qrow asked.

"It's been pretty good. She is really kind and is always full of energy." Taiyang said.

"Even at night when we are trying to sleep." Raven said, a bit of anger was in her tone.

"Raven, come on, she's only 1. She doesn't know better." Taiyang said.

"She should know how to not cry at 2 in the morning." Raven snapped back.

"She'll learn eventually." Taiyang snapped back.

"She better." Raven sighed. "I can't wait for you two to have kids. Why do you have to wait so long?" Raven asked. "Just do it now and get it over with. You really only need one."

"Well," Summer interrupted, "I bet you'll be happy to know that I'm pregnant."

"You're…what?" Raven seemed taken aback.

A large smile was growing on her face. "You heard me" she said.

"Oh, my god. That's amazing you two! Congrats! How long have you know?" Taiyang asked

"About a week and a half." Qrow said.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Raven asked.

"We don't know. It's too early. But we are hoping for a girl so Yang can have a little sister." Summer said.

"Well, I hope it is. Yang would love that." Taiyang said.

"So, how many tries?" Raven asked.

"What?" Questioned Summer.

"How many times did you get fucked. 10? 20? What position was the winning one? Missionary? Stand & Deliver? Did he pin you to a wall?" Raven asked. Summer now had her hood over her head as she hid in shame.

"Come on Raven. That's enough." Qrow said as he grabbed his sisters arm and pulled her away.

At this point, Raven was laughing. "I'm sorry. I just kind of find it funny. It's like success. Everyone congratulates you once you finally get it done, but no one knows how many times you got fucked." Raven said before laughing again.

"I guess you're right." Taiyang, breaking into a small smile. Qrow giggled a bit before walking over to comfort his wife.

"Aww, come on Summer. It's fine. She was just joking. Don't take it personally." Qrow said, laying a finger underneath her chin before raising it up. "You're so cute when you're embarrassed," Qrow whispered to her. "Your cheeks turn so red." Summer smiled upon hearing this. "But they aren't red, they are shade of red. A bit darker. Like a, ruby color." Qrow's faced changed. "Ruby. Ruby. Ruby! That's it!"

"What's what?" Summer asked.

"The name for our kid. If it's a girl, we will call her Ruby. It's short and sweet and rolls off the tongue." Qrow said, enthusiastically.

"Ruby Branwen rolls off the tongue?" Summer asked, a smile on her face for calling bullshit on her husband.

"No, but Ruby Rose does. We'll name her after your last name. Ruby Rose, a sweet little cinnabun." Qrow said before kissing his wife again. Taiyang and Summer looked at each other and then back at the two kissing. The two kissed for what seemed like forever, neither one of them wanting to break it off.

 _Flash-forward 2 months_

"If there is anything, anything at all you need, tell me. Okay?" Summer said.

"Thanks, Summer but I'll get it. You're two months pregnant and I don't want to overburden you." Taiyang said.

"Nonsense. Divorce is hard and I don't want you to seem like it's your fault." Summer said.

"We didn't divorce, she just left. Just a note saying goodbye." Taiyang said.

"Well whatever the case, we will be here for you." Summer said.

"Thank you." Taiyang said. Qrow came into the room and sat down next to Taiyang and gave him a mainly hug before pulling away and asking Summer for something.

"Hey Summer, can you make that casserole you always make? I bet Taiyang will love that."

"Sure." And with that, Summer went into the kitchen.

"Aww, man you don't have to..." Taiyang started before he was cut off.

"Do you remember me and my sister's semblances?" Qrow asked.

"Um, what?" Questioned Taiyang.

"Do you remember our semblances?" Qrow asked again.

"Uh, yeah, you can turn into a crow and Raven turns into a raven. That's actually pretty cool." Taiyang said.

"Well, those aren't our semblances." Qrow said.

"Wait, if that isn't our semblance than how can you turn into a bird?" Taiyang asked, confused as hell.

"It's a long story, maybe for another day. But our real semblances are always with us, always active, whether we like it or not. We got our names because of it. We are who we are because of it." Qrow said.

"What is it?" Taiyang questioned.

"I bring misfortune and Raven bring fortune. Crows are known for their bad luck, hence my name, while raven are known for their good luck." Qrow said.

"Wait, if crows are bad luck, then why hasn't anything happened to you or Summer?" Taiyang asked.

"Because when me and Raven ae together, our semblances cancel each other out. But now that she's gone…" Qrow faded away.

"Then your semblance is active again. And bad luck is to come for your family." Taiyang was now realizing what this meant.

"Yeah. But don't tell Summer. Not yet. It needs to be the right time." Qrow said.

"Yeah, I got you." Taiyang said.

Just then, a large smashing sound could be heard from the kitchen followed by a quick scream. Taiyang and Qrow both jumped from where they were sitting and ran to kitchen to find Summer standing over the sink. She was holding her left hand, which was covered in blood.

"Jesus Christ, what happened?!" Qrow was panicking.

"Oh, I was just cutting some chicken for the casserole and the knife slipped." Summer said, trying to wash the blood away.

"Summer, that's a deep cut. We need to take you to the hospital!" Taiyang said, seeming urgent.

"Taiyang, it's fine. I took self-treatment classes at Beacon so I can treat this. Guys, don't worry." Summer said calmingly.

Taiyang and Qrow looked at each other. It had begun. The bad luck had started.

 _Present day_

"Taiyang…bad luck…don't tell" Qrow mumbled. He was still sleeping.

"He keeps on mumbling nonsense. He seems to deteriorating." Jaune said with a heavy heart.

"Mistrial can't be that much farther." Nora said.

"And when we get there, we can find a doctor." Ruby said.

"Hopefully." Ren said.

"Yeah, hopefully." Jaune said

 **Author's Note:**

 **So, Raven.**

 **When I started this chapter, I was under the impression that Raven's brought good luck. Then I used my brain and googled it and found out I was wrong. But by that point I was three pages in and couldn't rewrite it so I just kept it in. But if you are wondering, Ravens are associated with death. Fitting.**

 **Anyways, follow, favorite, reviews are welcome. And I will post a new story before I update this one so be on the lookout for that.**

 **Finishing Writing: January 28, 2017 at 7:51 P.M.**

 **Pages: 5**

 **Words: 1.6k**


	3. Chapter 3: The Explanation

**A/N:**

 **Welcome back to Qrow's Little Secret. A few things before we begin.**

 **These chapters won't be 2,000 – 3,000 word chapters. They are going to be on the shorter end, more like 1,200 – 1,800 words. This isn't going to be an action-packed story, more of a failed and faulty love story.**

 **I'm going to update this and any other story about a week apart. This will give me time to think about the storyline and where I want it to go. I will most likely only do 1 -2 stories at a time, 3 if I get cocky. The two stories I am working on now are Qrow's Little Secret (this one) and Melting Snow, a story about Weiss.**

 **I'm going to try and branch out a bit into more genres of stories. I have a few single chapter stories in mind. Those will come out whenever. I'll also try to write some smut. Yes, smut. I can't promise it will be good but it will be something. If it isn't received well, then I'll stop.**

 **On to the story. This chapter is mainly going to be about RNJR dealing with Qrow. I wanted to post a few chapters about what they are going through and what they think of all of this. So, let's begin.**

 **Started Writing: February 4, 2017 at 11:02 P.M.**

Team RNJR had been carrying Qrow for about 5 days now. They didn't know how long until they got to civilization. Qrow's health seemed to have plateaued but he was still in a bad state. He was unconscious way more than he was conscious now, only seeming to wake for a few minutes, only to slur his speech and pass out again. Everyone took some time to carry him and those not carrying Qrow were always vigilant, on the watch for Grimm, or something else.

He was also mumbling a lot. He said Summer a lot, occasionally followed up by another name. While most of the team seemed to ignore him, it was beginning to wear on Jaune's nerves. Jaune didn't like Qrow because he blamed Pyrrha's death on him, even though they both knew that it wasn't true.

"Summer…Raven…" Qrow mumbled again. Jaune, who was helping Ruby carry him, seemed to tense up upon hearing his voice again. Ren, who was walking behind him, noticed this.

"Jaune, what's wrong?" Ren asked.

"It's just that… he keeps saying summer, like it's a person or something." Jaune said.

"Well Ruby already told us that summer was his favorite season. He's in a happy place, Jaune." Ren said.

"Yeah, I guess so." Jaune said.

Nora, who was in the lead, turned around to add to the conversation when she noticed Ruby silently crying, tears in her eyes.

"Ruby, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" Nora asked, concerned.

"It's nothing…" Ruby said, trying unsuccessfully to choke back tears.

"Ruby, is summer a person?" Ren asked.

"No, I already told you what it means…" More tears form in her eyes.

"Ruby, what's going on? Who is Summer, and Raven?" Jaune said.

Ruby stopped walking and hung her head. She sighed before speaking. "You guys should know…" Ruby set down Qrow before walking to the side of the pathway. She sat down and wiped the tears from her eyes. The rest of the team walked over to her and sat down next to her.

"Summer, isn't his favorite season. She was his teammate, and my mom." Ruby said. The rest of team knew her mom was dead, but they didn't know her name, until now. "He was part of Team STRQ, consisting of my mom Summer, my dad and Yang's dad Taiyang, Yang's mom Raven, and Uncle Qrow."

"Wait, your dad knocked up both female members of his team?" Jaune asked, surprised.

A small smile formed at Ruby's lips and she let out a small chuckle. "Yeah, I guess my dad was a player. Anyways, I don't know much about Raven because she left before I was born. My mom was killed when I was about 4 so I basically grew up with my dad and Uncle Qrow."

"But why does Qrow keep saying Summer's name if Taiyang is you dad?" Nora asked.

"Well, Yang told me that Qrow really like Summer but they had a falling out sometime before I was born. Maybe he still liked her? He was awfully sad when my mom died." Ruby's voice began to crack as she began crying again.

"Ruby, I'm sorry..." Jaune said.

"No, it isn't your fault. You were just curious. You didn't know." Ruby stood up before wiping away the tears. "If Qrow dies, then I would have lost too much. So, we can't wait any longer." Ruby walked over to were Qrow lay on the stretcher.

"Ruby." Ren said. Ruby turned her head to face Ren. "I heard Qrow say your name, more than once. Why is that?"

"Qrow was a like another father to me. In some ways, he was the mother I never had. He helped me do my hair and he let me paint his nail. He was a great mother and an even better uncle. He taught me how to use a scythe and how to kill Grimm. I spent as much time with him then with my real dad. He was always there. He really cared for me. I was almost like the daughter he never had in some ways." More tears formed at her eyes, but these were tears of happiness almost. Tears of a simpler time, when death wasn't a common thing. He cried for the happier times and good times.

"Well, we better get moving." Jaune stood up. Ren and Nora quickly followed suit. Ruby went to pick up the stretcher when she felt a head on her shoulder.

"I got this. You watch with Nora." Ren said. Ruby nodded and took up Grimm patrol with Nora. Jaune and Ren picked up the stretcher before they all started off towards Mistral again. Nora once again took the lead while Ruby stayed back. Here, she was closer to Qrow. She could watch over him better this way. Ruby walked up along-side Qrow and pushed his hair away from his eyes

"Just hold on Qrow, we are almost there."Ruby whispered to Qrow before falling back again.

Jaune looked back at Ruby. It was obvious that Ruby really cared for him. So, Jaune concluded that it didn't matter if he killed Pyrrha or not, all that matter was that he stayed alive, for Ruby's sake. He didn't want to see Ruby lose someone even closer to her than Penny. She would never recover. Jaune looked down at Qrow and thought to himself _Stay in their old man. Don't die on me._ And as if Qrow heard him, he began to mumble again.

"Taiyang… take care … my kid…" Jaune was a bit taken aback by what Qrow just said. Ruby had just told him that Qrow never had a kid but yet here he was, telling Ruby's dad to take care of his kid. He looked back towards Ruby. She hadn't heard this and he was a bit relieved by this. He turned back towards Qrow. "What secrets are you hiding from her?" Jaune whispered to himself.

 _Flashback, 17 years ago_

Taiyang and Qrow were sat at the dining room table. It was about 1 in the morning and Summer had already gone to be. Taiyang had put Yang to sleep a few hours before that. Even since Raven left, he had been staying over at Qrow's house. He wanted Yang to have some sort of mother figure and Summer needed some practice with a kid so they decided that the two of them show stay over until Summer had the baby. Taiyang and Qrow had been drinking lightly ever since it was just the two of them awake. They had not had near enough alcohol to be considered drunk and were talking about the future, mainly Qrow's plan for his kid.

"Qrow, what are you going to do about this whole bad luck thing? You have to tell Summer eventually." Taiyang said.

"I know, I just haven't had the right time." Qrow said.

"Well, when is the right time? When she is dead? When you have to explain to your kid that her mother died because you their father is bad luck? When?" Taiyang stood up from his seat, spilling a bit of booze. He sounded a bit angry.

"Taiyang, calm down. I have been thinking this through and I know when the right will be." Qrow said calmingly before taking another swig from his flask.

"I'm sorry." Taiyang sat back down.

"I know how much you care for Summer, for the kid. You care for them like it was your own. So, now it is." Qrow said, sternly.

"Wh-what? What do you mean it's mine?" Taiyang was taken aback.

"I mean that the kid is yours. I don't want my kid to grow up, knowing that his or her father is a literal back luck charm. That's why you are going to be their dad. Whenever they ask, you are the dad. So, I guess a congratulation is in order. Your second kid. I still get to name them though." Qrow said jokingly.

Taiyang was at a loss for words. "Qrow, you can't just give me your kid. It's yours. You made them, you will raise them, and when they ask, they will say that Qrow is my father."

"No, no they won't. Taiyang, I know how much you like Summer and how much you miss Raven. I know that you always wanted a little brother or sister for Yang. So, I'm giving you one. Tai, I thought this out and if I even thought for a second that you were a bad father, then I would have never brought it up. I've been with you for five, almost six years now. I know you are a great father already so what's one more. Also, it's not like I'm leaving. I'll still be here, I'll be Uncle Qrow, not Dad Qrow, okay?"

Taiyang sighed. "Alright, for the kid." Taiyang raised his glass for a toast. Qrow smiled and raised his flask. But when the two objects collided for the toast, Tiayang's beer bottle shattered in his hand, spreading glass and beer all over him and the floor.

Qrow gave a small chuckle at the whole situation. "Heh, bad luck where ever I go."

Taiyang also gave small chuckle before saying "Yeah, I guess." He then stood up and went to the kitchen to grab some paper towels. Qrow just nodded and took another swig before Taiyang returned with paper towels and have some to Qrow. Qrow quietly groaned before beginning to pick up the shards of glass while Taiyang began wiping up the beer.

As Qrow cleaned up the mess, the smile faded from his lips. _Bad luck_ he thought _everywhere I go and_ _affecting everyone I come into contact with…_

 **Authors Note**

 **So, there is another chapter for Qrow's Little Secret. You, the readers, seem to really love this story because I already have over 50 followers after only 2 chapters so thank you. I would also like to quickly address the mommy Qrow thing in this chapter. I'm not saying that Qrow is feminine or girl like or acts like a woman, I'm saying that in canon he seems to care for Ruby like a mom would. Always looking out and in some ways stalking her to make sure she is okay, like a caring mother would. He is always watching over her.**

 **Anyways, Favorite, Follow and Review. Also, I'm putting this up as soon as I finish it.**

 **Finished Writing: February 5, 2017 at 1:24 A.M.**

 **Words: 1.9k**

 **Pages: 4**


	4. Chapter 4: Ruby Rose

**A/N:**

 **Life is still beating me with that spiky metal battle covered in salt so sorry about chapters being so delayed. I have come to the conclusion that I will only probably put out one chapter a week and stories will go about 2-3 weeks in between new chapters. So, in line with the new chapter schedule, it has been about 2 weeks since the last Qrow's Little Secret chapter so it is time for an update. I think I mentioned this in the last chapter but if I didn't, the chapters in this story are going to be short for a while.**

 **This chapter is mainly going to be a flashback episode. However, if you are squeamish or light-hearted, you might not want to read this chapter because Ruby comes into existence this chapter. Not too much detail though. This is your only warning.**

 **Started Writing: February 17, 2017 at 11:47 P.M.**

After learning about who Summer, Raven, and Taiyang were, Jaune, Nora, and Ren were a lot more careful around Ruby. She seemed to not be all there and they didn't want to lose her completely. Therefore, there was little talking amongst the group, the only conversation being that of where to go and how much longer. Qrow still continued to mumble throughout the day. He seemed to slipping away little by little. He very rarely was conscious enough to speak. He was way too weak to stand and when night came, someone would always have to be on night watch to protect him.

Jaune, who at first wasn't very fond of him and didn't really care for him, now understood what he meant to Ruby and would protect him by any means necessary. But he knew that if they didn't find help soon, he would die.

"How much father?" He asked.

"I don't know. Without the map, we have no clue." Ren replied.

"Well, where is the map?" Ruby asked.

"Oniyuri, where we fought Tyrian. We were so caught up in making sure Qrow was okay that we forgot it, again." Nora replied, heavy-hearted.

Ruby looked away and down towards the ground as tears began to fall from her cheeks.

"Ruby," Ren said, causing Ruby to look up, "I'll carry Qrow with Jaune, you go on watch."

"No, I got this. I want to be as close to him as possible." Ruby said.

"Ruby, you've been carrying him for over 5 hours now non-stop. You need a break." Ren said.

"No, I have to do this. I have to save him." Ruby said.

"You can't save him if you're too tired to fight if you carry him for this long. Please." Ren said.

Ruby sighed. "Fine."

Jaune, who was at the back, heard Qrow mumble something again.

"Summer…please…don't die…"

Jaune looked up. Neither Ren or Ruby had heard what he had said. He still hadn't told them about Qrow apparently having a kid and this just added to the mystery. Jaune just stared at him, trying to figure this all out.

"Jaune." A voice snapped him back to reality. It was Ren. "You good?" He asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just thinking." Jaune replied.

 _Flashback 16 years ago_

"Push, Mrs. Rose. Push!"

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Summer screams echoed through the walls of the room.

"Ugh. Do I really have to be here for this?" Qrow said, standing in the corner wearing a scrubs outfit.

Summer looked at him angrily. "It's your fucking kid!" She yelled.

Qrow just looked away. _Not for long_ he thought. Summer's screaming brought him back to reality. There were in the maternity ward of the hospital. Summer's water broke a few hours ago, and now she was in the middle of childbirth. Both of them had seen some weird shit out in the fields but for Qrow, this was the worst. While Summer's aura was protecting her from some of the pain, it wasn't completely blocking all pain. She was surrounded by three doctors/nurses, trying to assist her in any way possible. They had her hooked up to all sorts of machines but Qrow was most worried about the heartrate one.

"Doc, why is her heartrate so high? Is that normal?" He asked

"Her body is under a lot of stress right now." The doctor answered back.

"That doesn't answer the question." Qrow snapped back.

"Yes, it is normal for her to have an increased heartrate." The doctor looked at the monitor. "However, that seems to be a bit higher than normal." The monitor read 165 BPM.

"Could it be because of her aura trying to block the pain?" Qrow questioned, slightly panicked.

"Wait, is she a Huntress?" The doctor asked.

"Yeah." Qrow answered.

"Oh, then that makes total sense. Yeah, it's normal." He turned to Summer again. Come on, one more big push." He said.

"AhhhhhhHHHHHHH!" Summer yelled before crying could be heard. Qrow walked over to doctors who were holding the newborn. They were washing it off and wrapping it up.

"It's a girl! Congratulations."

The doctors gave the baby over to Summer, who was now calmer. Qrow walked over to her and the both look at their little girl.

"Look, she has your eyes." Qrow said.

"What are we going to name her?" Summer asked

"Ruby, remember. Ruby Rose." Qrow said, happily. They looked at each other and smiled. Right now, Qrow didn't care about anything else in the world, only his two girls in his life. He knew that they would make him a happy man.

"Qrow, I…I…" Summer began.

Suddenly, life reared its ugly head again. Qrow looked up at the heart rate monitor.

 _165…178…192…...0._

A loud, monotone beeping sound came over the monitor. He looked back at Summer. Her eyes were closed and she lay there motionless. _No…not now. Please._ A sudden explosion of commotion brought him back to what was happening.

All the doctors and nurses were rushing over to Summer, yelling things at each. At some point, the baby was taken and Qrow was lead out of the room by another nurse into a separate room. He could hear the baby crying was it was wheeled out and down the hall to the infant ward. This made Qrow begin to cry. The man who could take on any beast without breaking a sweat, was on the floor of the room weeping for his wife, his little girl, his curse.

"WHY?!" He yelled at nothing. "WHY?! WHHHHYYYYY…."

 **Author's Note:**

 **Sorry?**

 **Like I said, this chapter did contain some mild language and other shit. I didn't want to go too deep into the descriptive language because…well I think you can understand. We all saw that sex ed video in sophomore year if you are a sophomore. If not, well then, good luck with that.**

 **Anyways, Follow, Favorite and Review**

 **Finished Writing: February 18, 2017 at 4:05 P.M.**

 **Words: 1.1k**


	5. Chapter 5: The Confession

**A/N:**

 **So, you would think that me being on Spring Break this week I would have wrote some more. Nope! I'm still writing one a week. Idk, I might update Melting Snow after this but only time can tell.**

 **Anyways, I'll keep this brief. This chapter is going straight into the flashback. No current time then flashback, just straight flashback. This chapter is mainly going to be flashback, if not all of it. If the whole chapter is flashback, then the next chapter will be mainly current time. Actually, no matter what, next chapter is going to be mainly current time.**

 **Anyways, let's begin.**

 **Starting Writing: March 9, 2017 at 4:38 P.M.**

 _Flashback 16 years ago_

A light tapping on the door made Qrow open his eyes. He was lying on the floor and he had a pounding headache. He groaned as he stood up and tried to remember where he was. He looked around but since the door was closed and the blinds were shut, he couldn't see much. Once again, there was a knocking sound followed by a young female voice asking, "Mr. Branwen?" Qrow rubbed his eyes, still trying to figure out where he was.

The door opened slowly, allowing light to stream in. Qrow tried to look at who opened the door but the light blinded him slightly, making him squint. While squinting, he tried to see who it was but couldn't make out a face. He tried looking at what the person was wearing to see if that could jog his memory. The woman was wearing almost all white. A white pair of pants and a white coat of some sort.

"Mr. Branwen, are you okay?" The woman asked again.

"Who are you? Where am I? And how do you know my name?" Qrow seemed to get defensive, like he was being attacked by this woman.

"Mr. Branwen, my name is Nurse Dew. you are at Patch Hospital. You were admitted with you wife who was going into labor. After she gave birth, there were some complications. That's why you are here."

Qrow suddenly remembered. Summer going into labor, their new baby girl, and then…

"Oh, my god! My wife, Summer, is she okay?! What about my baby?!" Qrow grabbed the shoulders on the nurse and asked fanatically. She seemed to be surprised by this but was quick to calm herself and respond.

"They both made it. Summer is expected to make a full recovery and your child is in the nursery. Your wife is in room 2-222 if you want to see her." Nurse Dew said.

Qrow, whose hands were still on her shoulders, pulled her into a hug. "Thank you. Thank you so much." He said before beginning to leave the room. However, as he walked out the door, he turned to face Nurse again.

"Wait, how do I get to room 2-222?" He asked her.

"It's the next floor up. Take the stairs. Once there, make a left and it should be on the left. It should have her name under the room number."

"Thank you." Qrow called out as he ran to the stairs. The hospital wasn't too big, only about four floors. The delivery room and ER was on the first floor, the nursery was on the second floor along with the maternity ward with the remaining rooms on the third and fourth floor.

Qrow sprinted up the stairs and down the hall, trying to find the room Summer was in. Qrow read off the room numbers as he ran down the hall

"2-219…2-220…2-221…2-222!" Qrow reached the room and saw a little piece of paper below the door that read _Summer Rose._ Qrow ran inside to the bed where his wife lay and hugged her while beginning to cry.

"Oh, my god. I thought you were dead. I thought I lost you." Qrow said through the tears.

"Hey, hey. It's okay. I'm fine. Childbirth isn't going to kill a huntress as strong as me." Summer said, kind of weakly.

Qrow smirked as a quiet laugh escaped. He hugged his wife with all of his strength until Summer began to complain.

"Okay, ow. Still kind of recovering from the whole giving birth thing." Suddenly, Summers smiled faded. "Ruby! Is she okay? They haven't told me anything yet!" Summer said in a panic.

"Don't worry Summer, she's fine. She's in the nursery. We can visit her soon if you want." Qrow said, calming his wife.

"Oh, thank god." Summer said as she let out a sigh of relief and smiled. "You'll make a great father, Qrow."

Qrow tensed up upon hearing this. He tried to not make it obvious but Summer noticed.

"Qrow, what's wrong?" Summer asked, her smiled fading once again.

Qrow sighed and stared at the ground away from his wife. _Now is probably the best time_ he thought to himself, convincing himself now was the best time to tell Summer about his real semblance.

"Qrow. What's wrong?" Summer seemed more demanding this time. Qrow turned to face his wife and he saw the look of confusion and anxiety on her face.

"I can't be the father." He finally let out.

"What do you mean you can't be the father. Of course, you are. I haven't slept with any other guy. You know this!" Summer said, defensively.

"No. I know I'm the father, but I can't be the father." Qrow said again.

Summer was now confused. "What does that supposed to mean?" She asked.

"My semblance isn't the ability to turn into a bird." Summer looked at him with confusion upon hearing this. "It's misfortune. I bring bad luck. To wherever and whoever I come into contact with." He said.

Summer seemed more confused now. "Look, if you didn't want to be with me, you could have just said something." Summer said, a bit angry.

"What? No! I love you Summer! I would never want to leave you, but I can't be a father if I bring bad luck to you and Ruby." Qrow said, a bit angrily.

"That doesn't make any sense. We've been together for almost six years. Why bring this up now?" Summer asked.

"It's because Raven left." Qrow said.

"What does Raven have to do with you being a father?" Summer was getting more and more confused.

"Raven's semblance is good luck. When the team was together, our semblances cancelled each other out so it was unnoticeable. But since she left, my semblance became active again. Think back to the day she left, when Taiyang was over. What happened in the kitchen?" Qrow asked.

Summer thought for a second. "I cut my hand with the knife. But that doesn't…" Summer began before Qrow cut her off.

"And then a few weeks later." Qrow said.

"There was a small Beowulf in the back yard." Summer said.

"And then what happened to Taiyang that same week?" Qrow said.

"Someone broke into his house. Thank god they weren't home at the time." Summer said. "But those could all just be coincidence. That doesn't mean you are bad luck."

"Okay, now think back to when Raven was with us. Can you think of any bad luck that happened then?

Summer thought in silence for a solid minute for talking. "I can't, no."

"Exactly. That's why I can't be around Ruby. I don't want to hurt her or you." Qrow said.

"So, that's it. You're just going to leave us to fend for ourselves while you go be the lone wolf?" Summer seemed a bit angry.

"No. While I won't be there as often as a father should, I will still be there for you, for Ruby, for everyone." Qrow said.

"So, if you aren't the father, then who is?" Summer asked.

"Don't worry, I'll talk to Taiyang about it. I'm sure he'll be happy to take my place. He's always said he wanted a sister for Yang. Plus, I think Uncle Qrow has a slightly better ring to it than Daddy Qrow."

"I don't know." Summer said with worry.

"Honey, don't worry. We'll still be married, I'll still be there for everyone. I still take care of you guys. I won't just abandon you. I still love you. And if you love me, you'll do this for me." Qrow said.

Summer sighed. "Alright, Uncle Qrow." Qrow smiled before kissing Summer on the lips. They held the kiss for about 30 seconds for Qrow finally broke it off.

"Okay, once you're ready to walk, let's go see our little girl." Qrow said with a smile.

"You kidding me? I could walk this entire time. I just like it here. The bed is nice and soft. I guess when you give birth you get the more comfortable beds." Summer said, smiling as well.

"Well then, if you can walk, let's go see our baby." Qrow said.

"On second thought, I realized that my legs are still a bit sore, so I won't be going anywhere for a while. However, there is some room next to me." Summer patted an empty space on the bed.

Qrow smirked. "This is why I love you." He said before laying down next to his wife. The both soon fell asleep in each other's arms.

 **Author's Note:**

 **Sad, but cute.**

 **Like I said, the entire chapter was a flashback. Which means, the next chapter is going to be nothing but current time. I did have some trouble concentrating on writing this. Like I couldn't focus for some reason. Also, I have a five-page paper due soon, so if I don't update a chapter next week, it's because I don't want to look at a Word doc for a bit. Just a head's up.**

 **Also, really quick, I'd like to address the whole "god" thing. A few of you had spoken up to say why I'm using the word "God" instead of "Oum". In my stories, god = Oum. I find it a little silly to say "Oum dammit" or "Thank Oum". I feel like if I'm writing a really sad or dark part and say "Oum dammit", it kinda takes away from the whole feeling. So, I just say God. But just for future reference, God/Lord = Oum. Not trying to seem rude or anything but that's how I feel. I hope you can see me reasoning.**

 **Anyways, Follow, Favorite, and Review**

 **Finished Writing: March 10, 2017 at 1:06 P.M.**

 **Words: 1.7k**


	6. Chapter 6: A Well Needed Talk

**A/N:**

 **So, I'm going to assume that most of you have never been high. If you have, cool, if not, still cool. I personally haven't but we aren't here to learn about my personal life, you're here to read and I'm here to write. Back to my analogy. If you have high been high, then you know that after that high, there is that low after you come down where you don't really want to do anything. Same applies to a writing high. At its peak, I didn't want to stop writing. Now, I can't force myself to write sometimes. But I don't want to turn into one of those author's that only updates a story once in a fortnight so I'm trying to change that, with this, the 6th installment of Qrow's Little Secret.**

 **After looking over the last two chapter, I concluded that there really relied on the past and the current time was lacking. So, this chapter is entirely in current day. I make these so you can understand what Ruby and the rest of them are going through and how they feel.**

 **And shoutout to my buddy FlownNorth who proofreads these works to make sure I don't look like I'm illiterate. He just uploaded his first ever fanfic the other day. It isn't that long but it's pretty good.**

 **Anyways, let's begin**

 **Started Writing: April 11, 2017 at 12:37 A.M.**

The gravel ground crunched beneath Ruby and Jaune's boots as they march on in search of help for Qrow. He hadn't woken up in two days and they both knew that if they didn't get him proper medical treatment soon, he would never wake up. But Qrow wasn't the only issue now. Earlier that day, the team of four decided to split up into two teams of two. Ren and Nora took the mountain pass as Ruby and Jaune marched on towards a town called Kiroyuri. Ren had refused to go towards the town for an unnamed reason, but Jaune and Ruby had a pretty good idea on why.

Now, as Ren and Nora took the high path over the mountain, while Jaune and Ruby took the main path, they had to be more aware of their surroundings since there wasn't two extra people on guard duty anymore. So, with eyes and ears peeled, they trekked on towards Kiroyuri.

Mumbling from Qrow caused Jaune to wince. Even with him not awake, he still managed to annoy him as much as if he actually was awake. Jaune looked at Ruby, who, once again, seemed unfazed about Qrow. In fact, she had shown zero emotion since she told them about Summer. Sure, they had her let out a silent cry every once in a while. But it seemed like whenever he said a word or mumbled, she ignored him. Jaune, however, couldn't ignore him any longer.

"Ruby." Jaune said, trying to get Ruby's attention.

"What?" Ruby said, barely turning her head towards Jaune.

"Ruby, we need to talk." Jaune said.

"No time." Ruby replied, turning away from Jaune.

"Ruby. We need to talk." Jaune said, more demanding this time.

"We can't. Not with Qrow like this. We need to keep moving." Ruby said, still facing forward.

"No!" Jaune said, stopping dead in his tracks. Ruby was forced to stop as well, but tensed up and tried to continue moving forward.

"Jaune. We can't stop now. We need to find help for Qrow. We'll stop when night falls." Ruby said, tugging at the makeshift stretcher, trying to pull it forward.

"Ruby, no! We need to talk now. There are some things that…" Jaune began.

"Tell me tonight!" Ruby said, this time turning her head a bit towards Jaune but still trying to move forward. Jaune could tell she was getting angry but he wasn't letting up.

"Ruby, stop! We need to talk about Qrow!" Jaune said, basically yelling now.

"Just tell me tonight!" Ruby yelled back, this time yanking on stretcher, causing Jaune to take a step forward but still hold on.

"Ruby! The things he is saying make it sound like…" Jaune began.

"Shut the fuck up!" Ruby yelled back, this time turning her head to fully face Jaune. That's when Jaune saw that Ruby's face was red and tears were streaming down her face. She had a look of anger yet sadness across her face and she soon turned away from Jaune and stared at the ground.

Jaune's attitude changed quickly as soon as he saw her face. "Ru…Ruby, I'm…I'm sorry, okay?" Jaune said, trying to calm down the younger girl.

"Just shut up, okay?! Just go away!" Ruby said angrily through the tears.

Jaune set down the stretcher, causing Ruby to mimic him. "Ruby, I know hard this is for you. But you can't just keep your emotions bottled up like that." Jaune said.

"You don't know shit!" Ruby said with spite. "You have no idea what it's like for your entire world to be turned upside in the blink of an eye!"

"You're right, I don't." Jaune said, which kinda threw Ruby off guard. "But you don't either." Jaune said as he walked over to Ruby, placing a hand on her shoulder. "We're going through this together. You aren't alone. It may seem like only you have to suffer through this, but if you are sad, and you suffer through this, that means everyone around you does as well. And I won't let that happen."

Ruby wiped the tears away from her eyes and gave Jaune a warm smile. This made Jaune smiled back.

"Come here." Jaune said in a calm tone as he placed his other hand Ruby's other shoulder and pulled her in for a hug. Ruby quickly accepted it and hugged Jaune back really tight. Ruby began crying softly into Jaune's chest as Jaune pulled her in just a bit tighter. They held on to each other for over a minute before Ruby finally let go. She once again wiped tears from her eyes.

"Thank you for that." Ruby said once she finished wiping her eyes.

"Anytime." Jaune said. "But now we need to talk. Talking about what's happening. Talk about Qrow."

Ruby looked at the ground before nodding slightly. "Yep. It's time I guess." Her large smile had faded into a small one as she excepted that it was time to talk about the situation at hand. Ruby walked over to the side of the road as Jaune followed. They sat down next to each other, facing Qrow who was just feet away. The both sat in silence, looking at the injured man on the stretcher for about 5 seconds before Ruby broke the silence.

"That man means everything to me. If he died, then I don't know if I could make it." She said.

"We aren't going to let that happen. I swear my life on it. And if Ren and Nora were here, they would do the same." Jaune said, confidently.

"Promise?" Ruby said, her silver eyes glistening with anticipation.

"Promise." Jaune said, looking back at her. Ruby smiled once again, which made Jaune smile. Ruby then looked back at Qrow which made her smile fade. Jaune's smile also faded when he looked back at Qrow.

"He isn't doing well." Jaune said. "I am starting to doubt if he will make it."

"I am too…" Ruby said. This threw Jaune off a bit, hearing this come from Ruby. "I am trying everything to make sure he makes it, but in reality, I won't be surprised if he doesn't."

"Ruby…" Jaune said as he opened his mouth.

"You told me to no longer keep my emotion bottled up so I'm letting them all out." Ruby looked back at Jaune, who closed his mouth. "He's my uncle. I love him like a father. I would do anything to make sure he stays safe. But in his current condition, I'm really starting to doubt he's going to live…"

 _I'm really starting to doubt he's going to live…_ _I'm really starting to doubt he's going to live…_ This was the phrase that echoed in Qrow's mind as he awoke. He didn't know how long he had been out, but did it really matter, he was still alive, right? He didn't dare open his eyes, for he didn't want to see. For right now, he was better off if he just listened to his surroundings.

"Ruby, I promised this once and I will promise it again. I will make sure that Qrow lives or I will die trying!" Jaune said confidently.

 _Alive, alright. I can dig it._ Qrow thought to himself. He still didn't want to open his eyes, not because he didn't want to check if he was alive, but he didn't want to interrupt this conversation.

"Thank you Jaune. That means a lot." Ruby said.

 _So, Ruby's here and the kid's name is Jaune._ Qrow thought. He tried picturing the two guys that were in Ruby's team before he fell unconscious to trying and place a face with the name. _Jaune…Jaune…Jaune is the one with blonde hair._ Qrow laid silently as he listened to the two talk. He heard them talk about the trip and where they were going. They talked about the two other members, Ren and Nora, and what they were probably doing. Qrow listened to all of it as he lay there, not moving.

Jaune sighed. "Ruby, there is something I need to tell you about Qrow."

Qrow's demeaner suddenly changed. _What did I do?_ He thought. _I've been unconscious for so long now, how could I have done something?_

"The things he says, in his sleep, they…they contradict everything that you've told us about your past so far."

 _Oh god, what have I said in my sleep?_ Qrow thought to himself in a panic. He wanted to just move or maybe even just groan to get their attention so that Jaune wouldn't tell Ruby whatever he had said about her, but at the same time, he wanted to know what he had said.

"Yeah, I've heard what he has said…" Ruby said as she turned to face the ground, tears beginning to form in her eyes as she wiped them away.

 _What did I say?!_

"So, have you given it any thought, if it is true?" Jaune said.

"That Qrow is my dad? Yeah, I've given some thought." Ruby said.

 _No…no…no no no no no no!_ All Qrow wanted to do was just move to get their attention. He didn't care what Ruby might say next, he just wanted them to stop talking about it.

"So, what did you conclude?"

 _No! Stop talking!_

"I've decided that while he makes a great uncle…" Ruby began.

 _Ruby for the love of god, shut the fuck up!_

"…he would make a terrible father."

 _Wh…what? What did she say?_

"What do you mean?" Jaune asked.

"Don't get me wrong, I love the man like he was my own father. He's a great mentor, an even better fighter, and I hear he's pretty good with the ladies." Ruby chuckled a bit. "But when it comes to parenting, he's awful. He gives advice that would only work if the other person was too stupid to realize what it actually meant. And with him always being drunk, it doesn't make things any better."

"But the things he said makes it sound like he is your father!" Jaune said.

"And who knows, maybe he is. But if he was the father, then he should have acted like one. He should have been there when I needed him most. He was there for all my major accomplishment in life, and all the bad times to comfort me. But he never acted like a father figure. A father is there every day, not just the days that were convenient. A father is there to deliver the good, or bad news, not just show up after the fact. A father is there to comfort you after a tough day at school, not off doing another mission. Now don't get me wrong, I still love him. But if he was my dad, he should have acted like it."

 _Huh, so that's what she really thinks of me. Maybe it would have been better if Iwasn't there for her at all. Then I probably wouldn't be in this mess and she wouldn't be out here._

"Wow Ruby. I'm sorry I asked…" Jaune said, turning away from the girl.

"It's not your fault. I just had to get that off my chest." Ruby sighed. "Come on, we need to get going. It's going to be night in a few hours. If there is anything else you need to tell me, tell me then." Ruby stood up and Jaune followed quickly after.

"Ruby…" Jaune said. Ruby turned to face him. He had his arms outstretched towards her. "Come here."

Ruby practically leapt into his arms, embracing him tightly and placing her face in his chest. Jaune embraced her back just a tightly. Jaune could hear a soft weeping coming from his chest as he felt a small portion of his hoodie become wet. The embrace lasted for almost two minutes this time, with both of them remaining almost completely silent. But once again, it was Ruby who broke the embrace. She took a step back and wiped the tears from her eyes again.

"Thank you so much Jaune. Really, thank you." Ruby said.

"I know you'd do the same for me, maybe even more." Jaune said as he cracked a smile. This made Ruby smile just a bit as she walked over to the front stretcher.

"Oh, and Jaune?" Ruby said.

"Yeah?" Jaune replied.

"Don't say anything about this to Ren and Nora. When the time comes, I'll tell them." Ruby said.

"You got it." Jaune said. And with that, they picked up the stretcher and began walking again, the gravel path crunched beneath their boots.

 **Author's Note:**

 **If you cried, you lose.**

 **But seriously, I did have to step away from writing this a few times. It wasn't that I was tearing up and I didn't want to cry, it was that I could feel myself begin to tear up and I didn't want to so I just went on my phone until the feeling subsided.**

 **Also, it felt good to just write again. After not writing for two weeks, it felt amazing to just sit down and write for a few hours. And tbh, I wrote this entire chapter, except for the first paragraph in one sitting. The first paragraph I wrote last night, and that was all I wrote.**

 **Also, a confession, while I wanted this to be longer than BoaR, it looks like it's going to be just as long, maybe even a bit shorter. I predict that there might be five more chapter at the minimum and if I only write five more chapter, then that puts it at 11 chapters, the exact length of BoaR. I guess only time can tell.**

 **Oh, and I got a job so that will cut into my writing time so this might be the new normal, but if I can help it, I will update at least one story a week.**

 **Anyways, Follow, Favorite, and Review.**

 **Finished Writing: April 12, 2017 at 1:33 A.M.**

 **Words: 2.5k**


	7. Chapter 7: Babysitting

**A/N: Important information regarding why this took so long at the end, so you may wanna read that.**

"Uncle Qwow, when is mommy coming home?" Asked Ruby, tugging on Qrow's cape.

"Soon Ruby. Probably by noon. Now go play with Yang." Qrow said, turning to look down at the now 5-year-old Ruby.

"Yeah, come on. Let's play boxer!" 7-year-old Yang called out to Ruby from the other room.

"Awww, sis. Dew I have to?" Ruby said in a defeated voice as she walked over to Yang. "You always beat me."

"Well maybe if you chose to take the advice I give you on how to play, maybe you wouldn't lose every game." Yang said in a semi-serious cheerful voice.

Qrow just smiled to himself and shook his head. He always enjoyed the small, meaningless arguments the two sisters had, even if they weren't really sisters. Qrow had grown so accustom to Ruby calling Yang her sister that the often forgot that the two weren't actually related. Qrow tried to be around as much as possible to see his little girl grow up. But with his semblance being bad luck in all, he could only be around for short periods of time, sometimes less than a day. He spent most of his time on missions, earning money to help Summer out with bills and whatnot. Plus, whenever Summer had to go on a mission, it was usually Taiyang that was in charge of the two girls. Qrow always offered to watch over Ruby and Yang while Summer was away, but was usually shot down by Taiyang who reminded him the last time he watched the girls for an extended period of time, a Boarbatusk broke into the house and almost killed Ruby when she was still a baby. Taiyang did this not because he hated Qrow, he just wanted what was best for the girls, and Qrow understood, even if he didn't like it.

However, this time when Summer went away on a week-long mission, Taiyang could only watch the girls for the five days before going on a mission himself since he was a single dad that had to support the family. So, for the final two days that Summer was away, Qrow was tasked with being the babysitter. And for the most part, he enjoyed it. He loved being around both Yang since she reminded him or Taiyang and Ruby because, well, she was his kid.

All of this thinking reminded him to check his scroll. Qrow was tasked to watch over the kids for the final two days on Summer's mission. Today was day five. Summer had texted him saying she would be a day or two late but now Qrow was beginning to worry. It was uncommon for Summer to be gone this long past the return date for a mission. Qrow looked at his scroll. No new messages from Summer. _Maybe her scroll just died_ Qrow thought to himself, trying to calm down.

Summer was a very skilled huntress, capable of killing even the most powerful of Grimm. Deathstalkers, Nevermores, even the baddest Beowulfs stood no chance. Plus, this was a very easy mission. Clear out and protect a small village near Vale of Grimm for a week. Something simple and easy. She even had a small team with her, so it was a piece of cake. Yet nearly half a week had passed, and she still heard nothing.

 _I'm just overthinking things_ Qrow thought to himself as he finished cleaning the dishes from the morning's breakfast. That's when he heard a commotion coming from the living room. Qrow sighed and walked out to find Yang trying to punch Ruby in the face while Ruby hid in fear on the ground.

"HEY!" Qrow said loudly to get both girls attention. Yang stopped throwing punches and Ruby looked up. "I take it Yang's winning." Qrow said with a small smirk.

"Qwow! This isn't funny anymore. Yang is begiwwing to hurt!" Ruby said quickly while standing up, shifting the blame to Yang.

"She needs to learn how to block!" Yang said in defense, trying to shift the blame back to Ruby.

Qrow just shook his head and giggled silently. "While I do think you're right yang, you're doing it all wrong." Both Ruby and Yang gave Qrow a confused yet intrigued look. "Let me take over." He said before walking over to the two girls.

"Yang, extend your arm like you're going to punch Ruby in the face. But don't actually hit her, just pretend you are. Ruby, using the opposing arm to Yang, bring it up front of your face." The two girls looked confused at first but soon understood. Yang extended her right arm like she was going in for a knock-out punch to Ruby's head. Ruby at the same time, raised her left arm up in front of her face. Yang's fist met the middle of Ruby's forearm, stopping the punch. Both girls looked at each other with glee.

"Now, there are many other ways to block and even counter attack. I could teach them to…" Qrow was cut off by the sound of the front door opening.

"Sorry I'm late." Summer announced herself as she entered the house.

"Mommy!" Ruby yelled.

"Aunt Summer!" Yang said at the same time. Both girl ran to hug Summer as she knelt down. The two under girls collided with Summer as she embraced them. However, Qrow noticed that Summer seemed to wince when they collided, but the two girls didn't seem to notice. Plus, she played it off pretty well.

"So, what did you two do while I was going?" Summer asked Yang and Ruby.

The two girls started talking over one another about the last 10 days, making it impossible to make out what they were saying.

"Well, you're going to have to tell me that again, separately." Summer said once they finished. "And what about you?" Summer asked Qrow, "How did they act?"

"They behaved very well, but I was only here for the second half." Qrow said, before giving Summer a subtle stink eye.

"Well I would love to hear more about your week without me, but mommy needs her rest." Summer said, noticing the little gesture Qrow gave her.

"I'll help you unpack and relax." Qrow said to Summer, following her into the master bedroom.

"I wanna help to!" Ruby said cheerfully.

"There isn't a lot to unpack so we can handle it, Ruby. Why don't you and Yang practice those fighting moves I just showed you?" Qrow said with a smile, trying to hide the real reason he wanted to be alone with Summer.

"Ookie." Ruby said happily before practicing the blocking move with Yang. Qrow followed Summer upstairs to the bedroom. The two didn't talk until Qrow closed the door behind them.

"What the fuck, Summer?! Three days past mission end with no communication? What happened out there?" Qrow began to ask.

Summer sat down on the bed, her body turned away from Qrow as she began to take off parts of her outfit. "I don't fucking know! One day, the grimm were almost no existent, the next, war."

"War? With grimm? What are you on about?" Qrow continued to ask.

"The first five days were easy. The grimm were small and in low numbers. It only took a day or two to clear them out. The rest of the time was spent helping out the community. Then, all of a sudden, hundreds of grimm came from everywhere. It was like they had planned a counter attack. There were Beowulfs, Boarbatusks, even Deathstalkers and Nevermores. It quickly went from a walk in the park to a fight for our lives. Out of the 6-man squad I was on, half of them died. The reason I was three days late was because that's how long for backup to arrive." Summer went on as she removed her boots and cape.

"You needed backup?" Qrow was now more curious than angry.

"Well, more of evacuation help. The village was deemed a total loss and all the townspeople that survived needed to be evacuated. The help we got was just emergency services with some huntsmen as protection. Even with the help we barely made it out." Summer continued as she removed her coreset, leaving only her bra and skirt on.

"Well, why didn't you text us? Was it not to worry us?" Qrow continued to ask questions, still growing ever more worried about what his wife had been through.

Summer let out a small sign and laughed quietly to herself. "No. It's because my scroll was destroyed." Summer then pulled out what was left of her scroll from a secret pocket in her skirt before throwing it on the floor.

Qrow sat down on the opposite side of the bed and let out a heavy breathe of air. He then placed his hand on Summer shoulder, trying to get her to turn around. "Summer I didn't know… Holy shit…" Qrow said as he saw what Summer had been hiding.

Stretching from under her left boob across her entire chest and stomach down to about her waist was a large gash that looked like it had been patched up very hastily.

"Boarbatusk got a lucky hit." Summer said as she smirked. Qrow however was no amused.

"Summer, you could have died. That could have easily killed you and it looks like it almost did. Did you stitch this up yourself?" Qrow asked as he traced very lightly over the poorly held together wound.

Summer winced in pain as Qrow did this. "Yeah." She replied, smiling weakly.

"When? And why not let a medic take a look?" Qrow asked, still not amused.

"On the airship ride home when no one was looking. And as for why? Because I knew I would have been gone even longer and I probably would have ended up in a hospital. And I didn't want that." Summer replied.

"And why wouldn't you want to go to the place were people are trained to deal with shit like this?" Qrow asked, a bit ticked off.

"Cause I didn't want Ruby to see me like this. Her badass, invulnerable, invincible huntress mom laying sedated in a hospital bed with a near fatal gash in her. It would have scared her and she's just too young to be around that kind of stuff. So, I patched myself up and came home cause I missed my family. Is that so bad?" Summer asked Qrow.

Qrow just looked at Summer and finally let out a small laugh. "Always thinking of other before yourself." He said.

Summer looked him right in the eyes. "Isn't that why you fell in love with me?" Summer asked.

"Yep." Qrow replied as he leaned in for a kiss. Summer returned the favor and soon they fell on the bed, kissing and in love.

However, unbeknownst to them, five-year-old Ruby was peering through the doorway, watching her uncle kiss her mom. At that age, she thought it was just a kind gesture. But now, as she sat against a large tree in a burnt out and destroyed town with Jaune guarding her and Qrow, who lay unconscious on a homemade stretcher, she thought back to that moment. Thought back to how maybe, it wasn't just a nice gesture, but an act of love. They type of love that can only come from two parents in love with each other. And as she sat there, gently caressing Qrow's face, she contemplated whether or not Qrow actually being her father was such a bad thing.

 **Author's Note:**

 **The reason this took so long was a couple issues. The first is that I have kind of a bad case of procrastination that I'm working to get over in 2018 as one of my goals I guess. The second was that I've been busy with work and school and that was taking up pretty much half of my time but now I do have the time to work on my stories.**

 **Anyways, I'm in the works of three new stories. Those won't be coming out until I'm close to finishing one of my current stories. So, if you do see a new chaptered story from me, then expect an old one to end soon.**

 **If you did enjoy this, Follow, Favorite, and Review.**


	8. Chapter 8: The Final Confession

Ruby knelt over Qrow as he laid on the makeshift stretcher, as Jaune finished setting up the small camp in the middle of the deserted town. Jaune and Ruby had split ways with Ren and Nora a little over 6 hours ago, as they had decided to go up a mountain path to see if they could spot out some help while Ruby and Jaune voted to head towards a small town called Kiroyuri. They had decided to set up their tents since they didn't know how long they'd be there for. Ruby meanwhile was on watch duty to make sure they weren't going to get ambushed. Qrow sat next to Jaune, his mumbling becoming so common that he was beginning to ignore it.

As Jaune finished putting up both tents, Qrow began to toss and turn and mumble incoherently to himself. Jaune sighed, picked up his weapon, and made his way to Ruby, who stood on the roof of a burnt building within eyeshot of the camp, overlooking the town.

"Hey!" Jaune called up. Ruby quickly turned to look down at her friend. "Tents are set up. You should probably take a break and have a meal. I'll take next watch."

"Okay." She replied, before warping down to Jaune using her semblance. Jaune, even though he had known Ruby for roughly two years, was still a bit surprised by the speed at which she appeared next to him. He gave a small smirk at Ruby, who in turn gave him a big smile and the proceeded to take the brief walk back to the camp together.

After a couple of steps, Jaune spoke first. "Ruby, listen. I need to tell you something."

"It's about Qrow, isn't it?" Ruby replied, the smile long since faded away.

Jaune paused for a brief second before replying. "Yeah."

Ruby sighed heavily.

"Listen, I know you love your uncle, and you want him to live. But if we don't get help soon, well, you just need to be prepared." Jaune said seriously.

"Jaune, please don't say that." Ruby replied quietly, her head turned away from Jaune.

"Ruby, please." Jaune said, stopping Ruby, and putting his head on her shoulders. By this point, they were standing next to the tents and Qrow. "I don't want him to die either, but the longer it takes to get help, the less likely-"

"Hey Summer." Qrow said, hoarsely, interrupting Jaune. Neither Jaune nor Ruby turned to face Qrow, they both just sighed. "Listen, you just need to be…"

"Summer look at me." Qrow said. Upon hearing this, Ruby and Jaune gave each other a look of confusion and turned to face Qrow. They saw him still laying on his cot, propping himself up with his left arm. He had a friendly smile on his face and was looking directly at Ruby.

"Come on Summer, say something." Qrow said. Ruby turned back to Jaune.

"What do I do? Is he hallucinating? Does he think it's a dream?" Ruby whisper to Jaune.

"I don't know. Just go along with it for now." Jaune whispered back.

"Tai, what are you doing here? You here to have some fun with the two of us? Cause I'd be down." Qrow said, giving Jaune a smirk. Jaune instantly understood what he meant. He looked at Ruby, but she didn't seem to understand.

"Uhm, no. I'm here to… check on… the kids." Jaune replied, thinking on his feet.

"Oh, well they're down the hall, last door on the left, in case you forgot." Qrow replied.

"Thanks." Jaune said, walking behind one of the tents, out of Qrow's line of sight. Once Qrow no longer saw Jaune, he turned his attention back towards Ruby.

"Hey babe, you know I'm going to miss you right?" Qrow said.

Ruby turned away from Qrow and towards Jaune, who just mouthed the words " _play along_." Ruby turned back to Qrow.

"Miss me how?" she asked.

"Did you forget? You're going on that mission tomorrow. But you know who's gonna miss you more?" Qrow asked.

"Who?" Ruby asked, although he already had an idea.

"Our kid." Qrow said, happily.

Ruby let out a heavy sigh and cupped her face in her hands. "R-Ruby?" She asked, her voice muffled by her hands.

"Yeah. She's… gonna… miss you… a lot." Qrow said, turning back over, and laying back down. Ruby turned back to Jaune, who just looked back at her with a face of disbelief but at the same time, wasn't surprised by the confession. Ruby turned back towards her now dad as he lay on the cot. She tried to imagine what he was thinking. _Where did he think he was?_ She thought to herself. For Ruby, the hallucination had ended, but for Qrow it continued in his mind.

"Uh, I have reason to believe you're gonna miss me more." Summer said, now sitting up in their bed.

"We'll see when you get back." Qrow said, turning back over to face his wife.

"Yeah. Tai will tell me who cried more." Summer said with a smirk. The two then kissed for a second before Summer got up out of bed to changed.

"Are you sure you don't need me to come?" Qrow asked Summer, who was now at the closet.

"Hun, it's a simple search and destroy mission." She said, taking off the nightwear and grabbing a plain t-shirt. Qrow tried to get a glance over at the topless Summer, but she shot him a glance over her shoulder and he quickly looked away, eliciting a small chuckle from Summer.

"Looks like you're missing me already." Summer said, putting on the t-shirt.

"Yeah, well, I don't see you much, and I know a lot of hunters and huntresses that wouldn't take this 'simple search and destroy mission'." Qrow said.

"Yeah well, they're just scared." Summer smugly said.

"And you're not?" Qrow asked, raising an eyebrow. Summer put her finger up and opened her mouth as if she was going to say something but did not. "That's what I thought." Qrow said, laying back down. But he soon felt the weight of his wife jumping on him. He turned back over to see Summer straddling him with her legs on either side of him. She had a playful yet serious look on her face that Qrow couldn't help but smile at.

"Babe, I know you're worried. And to be completely honest, so am I. But if Ozpin didn't think I was the right person for this job, he wouldn't have called me. And if I didn't think I could do it, I wouldn't have said yes. So while I understand this is a dangerous job, I would like to note that all our jobs are dangerous so quit worrying so much." Summer finished off her little speech by eliciting another kiss from Qrow, to which he happily obliged.

After a brief kiss, Summer got off Qrow and continued to get dressed. Qrow laid in the bed, watching, and admiring the woman he had grow to love so much. And although he knew that spending time around her and his kid could equal bad thing to come, in this moment, it didn't matter. All that did was the fact that he was spending time with one of his two true loves in life, a time he didn't get too often. And as Summer finished getting fully dressed in her every day normal clothes, he couldn't help but wish that he could spend every morning here, like a normal family. But Qrow knew that every moment he spent with Summer and Ruby, his bad luck rubbed off onto them.

"Hey, Imma go check on the kids." Summer said, snapping Qrow back to the moment he was in.

"Okay then." Qrow said, still smiling. Summer gave a warm smile back and turned away from Qrow to leave the room.

"Hey babe." Qrow called out, causing Summer to turn around. "I just want to tell you that,"

 _I'll miss you._

Qrow stood next to Ruby, the light rain falling on them both, neither of them wanting to move from their spot. Qrow reach into the tuxedo he was wearing and pulled out a small flask. He flicked the top off and gave it a swig. After finishing, he made a move to hand it to Ruby but upon realizing she was a child, quickly put the flask back.

It had been 3 weeks since Summer left and all that came back were bits of a white cape. Since then, Qrow had begun drinking heavily since he blamed his wife's death entirely on him. The only person that took the loss harder than him was Ruby, who he swore hadn't stopped crying since she found out. Yet, as they stood together over Summer's tombstone at the edge of a large cliff, it was an eerie quiet. Qrow had lost track of how long they had been standing there. All he knew that pretty much everyone that came to the funeral, which just consisted of Taiyang, Yang, Ozpin, and a few friends and family of Summer had all left. Now it was just Qrow, Ruby, Yang, Tai, and Ozpin left.

After what seemed like an eternity of dead silence, it was Ozpin that spoke first.

"Qrow, can I have a word with you real fast?" he asked quietly. Qrow looked at Oz, then down at Ruby.

"Hey kid," Qrow said to Ruby. "Why don't you go over to daddy?"

Ruby wiped the tears from her eyes and simply nodded before walking over to Tai who was comforting Yang. Qrow then turned away from the three to face Ozpin.

"I am deeply sorry for what happened. If I knew it would have ended this way, I…" Ozpin said, before Qrow cut him off.

"Oz, just stop. It's not your fault this happened, it's mine. If I would have just stayed away none of this would have happened." Qrow said.

"So you're blaming your semblance on this, aren't you?" Ozpin asked.

"Of course I am. Who fault could it possibly be?" Qrow replied, anger and sadness mixing in his voice.

Ozpin sighed. "Qrow, I'm going to say something. You may not like it or me afterwards, but you need to hear it. Summer knew what she was getting herself into. This was not an easy mission. And she still went out and did it. Qrow, she died doing what she loved. There's no need to blame yourself."

"Thanks for trying Oz, but we both know that if had just stayed away from her, none of this would have happened." Qrow said, taking out his flask again and taking another swig from it.

Ozpin sighed once more. "Well, at least you still have your daughter." Ozpin said, hinting towards Ruby.

"Yeah, well, for her safety, she's my niece." Qrow said, looking over at Ruby.

"Qrow, you can't be serious? You're giving her to Raven?" Ozpin asked, shocked and surprised.

"What? No. I'm giving her to Taiyang and just calling her my niece. So instead of being dad Qrow, I'm Uncle Qrow." He said.

"Qrow, she's your daughter. You should be the one to raise her." Ozpin said.

"And let her die too?! She's all I have to remember Summer. Trust me, I want nothing more than to be her father. Be there for her every step of the way through life. But with my semblance just being there, I can't expose her to that. So like I said, for her own safety and my sanity, she's my niece and I'm her uncle. I'll still see her, just not as the stay at home father and more of the loving relative that only comes over for holidays." Qrow said.

"If that's what you want." Ozpin said with an exasperated sigh.

"It's not what I want but it's for the best." Qrow replied, looking back over that Ruby.

"Well, I guess we'll be in touch then, Mr. Branwen. For now, you better comfort your…" Ozpin paused. "…niece." Ozpin then walked away from Qrow. Qrow took another sip from his flask before putting it away and walking over to his family. Taiyang had finished comforting Yang and Yang was comforting Ruby when Qrow approached.

"What'd Ozpin say?" Taiyang asked with a hint of sternness in his voice.

"He, just wanted to send his condolences." Qrow replied.

"Mmhmm." Taiyang said, not believing Qrow's answer but still going along with it. "Come along girls, it's getting late." Taiyang said, putting his hands on both Ruby and Yang's shoulder and prodding them along as they left the cliff. Ruby however, quickly broke free of Taiyang's light grasp and run over to Qrow's side. Qrow looked down and Ruby, then up at Taiyang, who was looking at him. Taiyang gave him a subtle nod and began walking away with Yang.

"Uncle Qrow." Ruby said softly. Qrow looked down at Ruby, who was holding onto his leg. Her eyes were still a bit red since she had just finished crying. She looked back up him with her innocent eyes.

 _Everything is going to be alright._

Qrow heard those words echo in his head as he began to wake up. Everything in his body hurt as if he just got shot all over. His head pounded, and he felt extremely weak. His eyes slowly cracked open and the subsequent light from all around blinded him. It took what felt like an eternity before his eyes finally adjusted to the light and he could take account of where he was. He began to look around, but nothing looked familiar. He tried to remember where he was when he fell asleep, but his head hurt too much to think so he just looked around. He saw tons of dilapidated and burnt buildings, a large Grimm-like creature beginning to fade away and a large tree in the middle of all of it. He also saw Ruby and the three other kids he was tasked of watching. He saw the green and pink ones huddled together in a loving embrace, the yellow one grabbing some things from a couple tents and Ruby was signaling someone.

That's when Qrow saw and heard the large airships hovering almost directly above him. He noticed the Mistral logo on them and saw about three guys jump from one the ships that had just landed. One of the three ran over to Ruby.

"Are there any injured?" The man asked Ruby.

"Yes. My uncle." Ruby replied. "He was stung by a scorpion faunas and he hasn't been acting right since." Ruby responded, pointing to Qrow. The man nodded and ran back to the airship and grabbed a large tablet like thing and ran over to Qrow. He held the tablet about a foot over Qrow and slowly moved it from head to toe then back to his head.

At the same time, Jaune walked back over to Ruby. "Hey, you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, I guess. We got the help we needed, I just hop we got it in time." Ruby replied, nervously as she watched the man use the tablet to examine Qrow. "What about Ren and Nora? They doing okay?" Ruby asked Jaune.

Jaune glanced over to the two, who were still huddled together, their faces really close together. "Uh, yeah. They seem to be doing just fine." Jaune replied, nudging Ruby with his elbow to look over.

Ruby let out a small chuckle when she saw the two. "Well, that was a long time coming." She added.

"Excuse me." The man said, approaching Ruby and Jaune. "That man over there, that's your…?" He began to ask.

"Uncle." Ruby replied out of habit before quickly saying "Uh, father actually."

"Okay, well whether he's your father or uncle. He's not looking like he's going to make it.

"Wh…What?" Ruby replied, shocked. "Are you sure?"

"Well, I just did a scan for harmful diseases/poison in his body and I'm not exaggerating when I say there is almost more poison than blood in his body. It's in his lungs, heart, brain, pretty much every major organ. His liver is almost completely destroyed; however, I think that might be from something else." He added.

"If we got him to a hospital, would he survive?" Ruby began to sound panicked.

"The nearest hospital is the Mistral hospital, which is a 30 minute airship ride away. Once there, he would have to be immediately be given a ton of antibiotics and anti-venoms, given tons of fluid and blood to replace and force out the poison in his body. If that works, it would still take weeks to recover and his survival rate would only be about 5% and that's if he survives the airship ride to begin with. I'm sorry to say this but he probably only has about 10 minutes to live, if that." The man explained.

"No. No, there has to be another way, there has to..." Ruby began to cry.

"Ruby," Jaune said, cutting in. "I'm sorry but, your dad isn't going to make it. It's probably best to comfort him in his final moments." Jaune said softly.

She didn't want to accept it, but she knew they were right. She turned around to face her father as he lay on the hard ground. He was beginning to stir and move and bit so Ruby slowly walked over, a thousand thoughts were going through her head.

 _Is this really the place he dies? What am I going to say to him? Should I tell him? Should I not? Does he know?_ Ruby pondered all of these as she got closer, wiping the tears from her eyes and putting on her most believable happy face she could manage.

"Ruby…Where are we?" Qrow said slowly and hoarsely as she approached.

"We're in a town called Kiroyuri. You've been out for a long time." Ruby said, trying to mask the cracks in her voice.

"What happened? Why are these people here, and who are they?" Qrow asked, sitting up a bit and looking around.

Ruby placed one hand on his chest and another on his back and subtly forced him to lay down. "We just finished fighting a pretty large Grimm and they're here to take us to Mistral." Ruby said with a weak smile. Qrow nodded then suddenly tensed up, grabbed his abdomen, and let out a quick grunt of pain. "What is it?" Ruby said, surprised and frightened by the sudden movement.

"It's my everything. I feel like I'm going to die." Qrow said, his body relaxing a bit.

Ruby let out a soft nervous chuckle. "Ha ha, yeah, these people said that you'll be fine." Ruby lied, still trying to hide her tears behind her smile.

"Oh, good." Qrow said, relaxing. However, on the inside, he knew she was lying, but he decided it was better to just go along with it. "In that case, I'm going to take a nap."

"Uh, I don't think that's a good idea." Ruby said, a bit frantic. "Maybe one of the medics might need to take a blood test or something. You should probably stay awake." As Ruby was saying this, she realized she never took her hand off his chest. It had floated up towards the right side of his chest, where she could feel his faint heartbeat, getting increasingly weak the more she focused on it. It was at about this time Qrow noticed her hand on his chest and with his right hand, grabbed her left hand, took it off his chest and just held it.

"Ruby, it's okay. I just need to… conserve energy." Qrow said with a smile, the life slowly fading from eyes.

"No, please. Stay awake." Ruby pleaded, her façade beginning to crack.

"Ruby, it's fine. We'll be together soon. I promise." Qrow said. On the inside however, Qrow knew these were his final moments. No amount of aura or medicine could save him now. All his bad luck had caught up with him after all these years. He had hoped that his death would have been at the hands of a Grimm, on a mission far from Ruby to save her the burden of watching her father die. However, it seemed that even in his final moments, his bad luck was just as strong as ever. And as he felt his grip loosening, his breaths getting shorter, and his body shutting down, all he could really focus on was he sound of Ruby's sobs. He had tried his best to protect her, to keep her away from the bad luck that followed him everywhere, but destiny, it appeared, had other plans for him.

For Ruby, it seemed like her world was crumbling. The man who she thought was her father was really just a close family friend. The man who she thought was her uncle was really her father. She had already lost one parent, and now, she was losing the other in her arms. Not even the best acting she could manage can survive this. And as she too felt his grip weakening, she knew that he was taking his final breaths, and there was nothing she could do about it.

"Qrow, please. Don't go." Ruby said through her tears, her voice cracking like a vase that had just fallen off a table.

"Hey kiddo. Don't cry." Qrow said, making an attempt to wipe the tears from her eyes, but barely managing to raise his hand above his chest before giving up.

"Un…Uncle Qrow. I love you." Ruby said, deciding not to reveal that she knew the truth, as to not upset her dying father.

Qrow debated telling Ruby the truth but decided not to as well to avoid any confusion that he wouldn't be able to explain before he died. "I love you, too." Qrow said, before his grip on Ruby's hand completely diminished and fell limp at his side. Ruby immediately checked for a pulse, but unsurprisingly, found none. Her body as well felt weak and she collapsed onto her now dead father.

 _Crying quietly into his chest._

"Hey babe, don't cry. I'm here now," Qrow said, lifting the head of his wife off his chest. "Where ever here is." He said, looking around the place he was in. It was a mainly white place with no real defined walls or floor.

Summer wiped the tears from her eyes. "You know," she said with a small chuckle, her voice still a bit crackly from her crying, "Even after all this time, I still haven't given this place a name.

Qrow let out a small laugh. "Well, as long as you're here, it's paradise."

Summer smiled. "Yeah, I guess it is." Her face quickly changed back to a frown however.

"What's wrong?" Qrow asked, a bit worried.

"Well, if you're up here, then that means Ruby is on her own." Summer said, looking down at the ground.

"Honey, trust me. She's got a lot of good people to take care of her. She's old enough and brave enough and strong enough and smart enough and… well you get the point. She'll be fine without her parents around anymore." Qrow said, placing a finger under Summer chin and bringing it up so he could see into her eyes. For a moment, their eyes met, and it seemed like all their worries faded away as they brought there faces together for a passionate and loving kiss. The kiss only lasted for a brief moment before Summer broke it off.

"Speaking of parents, did Ruby ever find out about, you know, us? And you being her father?" Summer asked, worried. Qrow just smiled and brought their faces within inches of each other's.

"Nah, I don't think so." He said before kissing his wife again.

 **Author's Note:**

 **This story was a lot harder to end on than I originally imagined. See, I was planning on this singular chapter being 2 or 3 but decided that since it seemed like my chapters were getting too short, to just combined all I had planned into one big, final chapter. My biggest fear is that I left something out or it wasn't the ending everyone had hoped (I mean, that's a given probably) or that I would have ruined this story with the ending. I don't know, I guess I'm just paranoid seeing that this story got a decent amount of follows and favorites since it was something the community wanted.**

 **Moving on, because this story has ended, I can begin work on other stories I have had planned for a while. I don't like working on more than three stories at a time, so I don't get bogged down and to make sure that each story gets updated somewhat frequently.**

 **Anyways, Favorite and Review. You can follow it still but don't expect an update or Qrow to come back.**


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